Wizcrafts

I have 2 Singer patchers (long arm big bobbin and short arm small bobbin), a long arm version of the Singer 111 walking foot (a 139w109) and a Cowboy 4500. Here is how I divide up work among them. For sewing patches over pockets or sleeves, or for sewing on new strap tabs on the sides of purses, or for sewing zippers onto purses, bags and boots, or for top stitching shoe or boot uppers or cylindrical items, or sewing a patch onto a wallet back, I use a 29k series patcher. I keep the small bobbin model fitted with #69 thread and the large bobbin model with #92 thread. A Singer 29 series "patcher" is only good for repairs. For sewing wallets, phone cases, denim goods, chaps, jacket front zippers, and most anything that is between 3 ounces and 15 ounces, I use my long body Singer compound feed walking foot machine. I normally keep #92 thread in it with a #19 or #20 needle. I'll occasionally use #69 and a #18 needle for pigskin wallet interiors. Once in a great while I'll thread it with #138 thread and a #23 needle. You can use the Singer 111w155 for the same kinds of jobs. In your case you will probably use it more often than I do with #138 thread, which can sew pancake holsters together. Just sew double rows, 1/8" to 3/16" apart, for added strength. It maxes out with #138 thread. It maxes under with #69. Any jobs that are 1/4 inch or thicker, or that require #207 or larger thread are done on the big Cowboy CB4500. This includes holsters, gun belts, knife sheathes, thick cases, tow straps, animal collars and harnesses, headstalls and bridles. I typically keep it threaded with #277 thread and a #25 needle. These are not all of the machines I have in my leather shop. I also have a straight stitch drop feed Singer 31-15 tailors' machine for sewing cloth and linings and a very old Singer 42-5 spring foot for heavy upholstery work. But, the two patchers, the Singer compound feed walking foot and Cowboy machines are the ones I use the most. A well equipped leather business can not only make new items, but can repair old ones. Repairs are often a good stream of cash flow. So, since you are just starting out, my advice is, if there is any way you can swing it, buy the patcher and the Singer 111 now and the Cowboy later, using money earned from repairs and new builds to help pay for the machines. I see that you mentioned a Cowboy CB2500. It will sew up to 7/16 of an inch with #277 (and probably #346) thread. But, it is a bottom feeder only and the large teeth will leave very noticeable marks on the bottom layer. Further, its lower thread capacity is #138 thread with a #23 needle. No smaller needles are commonly available for this machine. If tooth marks are unimportant, this may be a viable option for you. Plus, there is an optional wide roller foot for it.

If the motor is attached to a bracket on the back and connected by a belt, it is a 15-90. If the machine has a pod motor built into it, it is a 15-91

I started this topic to alert members of LWN that the email problems with the Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines website have been acknowledged and fixed. I then posted a little piece of potentially helpful advice to self-managed website owners using shared hosting accounts to log into their control panels and verify that the email server settings they are using are still valid. Then my friendly little post got hijacked into a rant against Microsoft and other matters. So, I am using the powers vested in me to close this topic, as it is only going to denigrate further if left open.

Some folks take the lowest level hosting accounts when they start out, many of which do impose file count and size limits. These accounts are much cheaper than unlimited/unmetered accounts. I know several people that chose this path at first, then had to upgrade to a more expensive plan as the website grew in content and popularity. I have seen changes in my mail server designations from three different web hosts. This often accompanies upgrades to the Apache or Nginx software. I've personally had mail servers with no prefix, "pop." and "smtp." and "mail." prefixes. Then there's more changes when you sign up for Cloudflare or another CDN.

If you've recently sent email inquiries to Bob Kovar, or used the contact form on his Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines website and got no replies, or, you called to follow up and they claim to have not received your email, it is because he probably didn't receive your email due to a website mail server problem. Bob Kovar asked me to look into an email reception problem he has been experiencing since September 23, 2016. Between that day and October 20, he was not receiving any new email sent to his domain's email account, including messages sent via the contact form. He would check for new messages but found nothing new listed after 9/23/16. I learned that the problem was caused by a misconfiguration of the website's email MX record, which was first setup in 2011 and worked fine. Sometime during the last year or so the email server prefix was changed by the hosting provider. The unchanged mail server record eventually stopped being recognized on Sept 23. It was corrected on October 20 (after over 30 minutes on the phone with tech support). Emails to tolindsewmach.com are now showing up in the inbox as expected. So, if you have sent emails, or submitted questions via the Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines contact form, and received no answer, please resubmit your inquiries. If you happen to be a website owner, or a webmaster, it may be worth your time to poke around your cpanel - or equivalent - in the email configuration section, to make sure that the mail server is set to the current values used by your web host. Prefixes and ports get changed with server upgrades, as I just found out. A wrong mail server entry may lead to missed or bounced messages if the mail server doesn't forward messages sent to the old server to the new one. Example: Old incoming mail server was: your-domain.com Server upgrade changes the MX Record to: mail.your-domain.com or pop.your-domain.com These are regarded as different mail servers. Mail will eventually bounce or go to the bitbucket until you correct the entry. Ports may have also been changed during an upgrade, so verify IMAP, POP3 and SMTP ports if you use your domain to send and receive email. Another thing I learned is that saved email messages are regarded as "Files" and count toward any max files limit imposed by the web host for your hosting account! Further, if there is such a numeric limit set on how many files can be stored and your domain's email Inbox (including junk and custom folders) reaches that number, the mail box will be listed as 100% full and will stop accepting any new messages until some old ones are deleted, or the limit is increased by the host's tech support. This is the same thing that happens to our voicemail boxes. Now you know what else I do when I'm not sewing things, or playing steel guitar in Country bands.

I want that overcast looper, please, for my Pfaff 4 spool, two needle serger.

Yes, as long as it is thin, soft temper leather, sewn with thin thread and no larger than a #18 leather point needle. If the top grain happens to have a grabby texture, you will need to change the presser foot to either a roller or Teflon foot.

I have a servo motor on my 31-15. It has a small 50mm pulley and a shorter than standard matching v-belt. If the clutch motor you now have has a pulley larger than 2 inches, you will definitely need a figure out the length of belt you will need if you swap it out for a servo motor with a 2" or smaller pulley. You should tell the dealer you are ordering the motor from the length of belt that is on the machine now, plus the diameter of the motor pulley. This will help him choose the most likely size for a new belt, which will likely be much shorter.

Yes, it is the same oil. I use his oil in all of my numerous sewing machines.

I use my 31-15 to sew wallet interiors and for all cloth projects (tailoring). I usually use a walking foot machine to sew the back to the interior. My machine can handle #69 bonded nylon, because I clearanced the shuttle driver and shuttle race to do so. Otherwise, it would not clear that size of thread without a slight but noticeable binding and click sound that messed with the stitch quality and dependability.

It is a standard domestic Class 15 machine. You will be limited to #69 bonded nylon thread, using a #18 leather point needle.

I once owned a Singer 111w155 and it was good up to 1/4" with #138 thread. I tried sewing thicker but the needle would get stuck in the leather. Now, it will sew bridle leather a little thicker, as it is less dense than plain carving leather. I do have a long arm Singer that is based on the 111 mechanism. It is capable of sewing 5/16" maximum. I keep it threaded with #92 thread and use it for lighter projects, like wallets, zippers, phone cases, hemming, etc.

I know of at least four liquid waxes/lubes. They are: Sellari's Stitching Wax (real wax); needs Sellari's Wax Thinner Sellari's Thread Lube (white slick liquid) Campbell-Randall's Lax Wax (white liquid lube/wax) Puritan's Ceroxylon clear liquid wax.

For one thing, parts for the Consew are a lot cheaper than Pfaff parts. As for using #207 thread, it's dependent on the setup of the hook and deflector to the scarf of the needle and the clearances along the thread path from the feed dog on down. You should try using #207 in the machine you just bought so you have a reference to compare the Consew to. I recommend using a #24 leather point needle for this.

There are new walking foot machines that do zig zag sewing. They are not cheap, but they will transport sticky and bulky materials. Plus, most can use up to #138 thread. Ask your favorite industrial sewing machine dealer (preferably, one who supports this forum) about getting one.

Feed Off The Arm machines are for cloth.

I use and recommend buying servo motors and belts from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, which is one of the advertisers supporting this forum financially. The motor in the eBay ad uses push buttons to control the functions. You will get frustrated rather quickly trying to make the correct adjustments with that type of motor. Most of us have moved to the Family Sew FS-550 which has a rotary dial to limit the top speed. I can feather mine down to 1 stitch per second when needed. If you buy the motor from Toledo, ask to have the custom 50mm pulley installed, along with the required shorter belt. Have your existing belt length handy and the diameter of the motor pulley.

Lately, there are a lot of new and existing members asking for assistance with leather sewing machine issues that live in other countries than the USA. Our forums are worldwide. But, many of the folks who are frequent commenters in the leather sewing machines section live in the USA, Canada and Australia. Most of the suppliers who advertise with us are in the US and Canada. We tend to think and reply in Dollars and SAE measurements, not usually in metric or Euros (with some exceptions). It would help reduce confusion in our answers if we know where in the world you live. This is important if you are asking for prices, or a supplier of parts, printed manuals, or sewing machines. Prices and import taxes are different in various countries and in the EU. Measurements are different. Warranties may only cover certain countries. You can add or change your location in your member profile. At least with a proper location (City, State/Province, Country) in your profile, people close to you can give you better recommendations than those who are continents away from you, or even just across the same country. Some may reply to you in your own language, as I've seen numerous times with our German members. It only takes a minute to edit your public profile to include a good location.

I wonder how much postage will be for a large hard envelope of printouts mailed to Costa Rica? That's where Fifi6464 is located, based on their IP address.

You'll have to ask a dealer about that one as I have no experience with that model. The only info I see relates to double needle machines, with a 3/8" gauge between the needles. I can tell you from my experience in the distant past that Singer post machines used light weight thread and small needles.

If that is indeed the case, the 31-15 will accept a #22 needle that can lay down evenly spaced holes that can be enlarged with a hand awl. But, the throat plate a large hole plate. The fine plate won't pass a #22 needle. The standard plate "may" clear it, if the needle doesn't get deflected at all by the strap. The large hole plate has enough clearance to deal with needle position inconsistencies. FWIIW: The large hole throat plate is usually sold with a matching larger feed dog as the "heavy duty set.". This may be too aggressive on the bottom layer, so I would try to keep the existing (fine/standard) feed dog in place, unless it won't physically fit into the throat plate's slots. An even better solution would be to obtain a straight stitch machine that is already setup with a roller foot and large hole throat plate.

See CowboyBob's reply about the Consew 206RB.

The 31-15 is a drop feed machine, via feed dogs on the bottom. The presser foot is static. The feed dogs will mark the bottom layer, with the depth of marking dependent on how much force is needed to hold the leather down during the upstrokes. But... I doubt that a 31-15 will be able to hold a needle large enough to punch holes for hand sewing thread. It is a tailoring machine that normally uses small needles, up to #22. It would take a #25 or #26 needle to make a large enough hole to pass typical hand sewing thread (no wider than #277 machine thread). This would require a throat plate with a greatly enlarged needle hole and the removal of the bobbin case (and possibly shuttle driver), which would be impacted by the oversize needle. I sometimes use my Cowboy CB4500 with a #26 or #27 needle to punch hand sewing or tiny rivet holes. You are going to have to set your sights a lot higher than a Singer 31 class to punch such large holes

Alan; A walking foot machine is more capable of climbing up and down different layers of material. This is because the inside and outside feet alternate up and down. A compound feed walking foot machine also has a needle that moves forward and backward with the inside foot and the feed dog, providing superb feeding of slippery and difficult materials. This combination of coordinated motion keeps the layers from slipping out of alignment from drag of the presser foot. Both of the machines you listed have a fixed presser foot (with a very heavy duty spring) and needle. The only feed is from the feed dog teeth. The machines in the topic are clones of the ancient Singer 45k series. It was meant to sew horse blankets and tack, where the tooth marks on the bottom were unimportant. Most of these machines can sew up to 7/16 inch of harness leather, with #346 thread. They use system 216 or 328 needles, which are typically not available in leather point under size 23 (160). IHTH

You should be able to edit your post. Are you or aren't you able to edit it? If not, just post new photos in your reply. Some websites frown on hotlinking to their copyrighted images.